Tears on the Runway

Ben snatched our luggage of the conveyor belt as it rode by us. We had landed in London close to twenty minutes ago and Ben’s sister was on her way to pick us up.

“So this is London, huh?” I giggled and nudged Ben’s shoulder with mine. "It's been awhile."

“This is just the airport, my dear,” Ben whispered into my ear, a huge grin spread over his face. He refused to hand me my luggage as we walked out to meet Ben’s sister outside the automatic glass doors.

“Benny!” she screeched when we appeared on the pavement of the sidewalk. She lunged her entire body at Ben and he caught her in mid-air.

“Bexy!” he yelled with just as much excitement. “Lord, I have missed you.” He lowered his sister to her feet and she turned her attention to me.

“You must be Dai!” She held her hand out to me which I shook as she continued, “I’ve heard sooo much about you!”

“Dai, this is my little sister Bex.”

I nodded. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!” I called as Ben shoved our luggage into the trunk of his sister’s car.

We all piled into Bex’s tiny car once all the luggage had been loaded up and we began our drive to Ben’s parents house. A bundle of nerves formed in the pit of my stomach. What if they didn’t like me? I would be stuck with them for the rest of my life. Sweat formed on the palms of my hands as I sat in the backseat of Bex’s car alone while Ben and Bex chatted from the front seat.

“You’ll get to meet Dan!” Bex was almost screaming, giddily. From context I assumed that Dan was her boyfriend.

The brother and sister duo continued to chat, ignoring me until we finally pulled up to a really nice two story brick house. The path leading to the front door was surrounded by a pristine white railing and green shrubbery covered in beautiful flowers of all colors. Inside the house I could make out a curtain being pushed to the side and a woman peering into the yard, Ben’s mother I presumed.

Bex pulled up in front of the garage, not actually pulling into it before she cut the engine and hopped out of the car. At around the same time the front door swung open revealing a middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair and dressed in a navy blue pencil skirt with a matching blazer over a white blouse. “Oh, my Ben!” the woman called, her arms outstretched as she hurried toward us.

“Mom!” Ben called, enveloping his mother in a tight hug before pulling back and gesturing to me. “This is my beautiful fiancee Dai.” Ben grinned as his mom scrutinized me up and down.

“She’s very pretty, this one, Ben.” A small smile started to climb onto her features. “Your father should be home soon. He ran to pick up dinner for tonight.”

Ben nodded, unloading our things from Bex’s trunk. He brushed me off as I rushed to help him. “Ben, let me help, those are my bags too!” I insisted.

“I’ve got it, love,” he assured me with the smile that he only gave me, it was a sweet, small smile that he didn’t give anybody else.

“Fine,” I agreed very reluctantly and he placed a tiny kiss on my forehead as he lugged our bags into the house.

Bex fell into step with me as we walked behind my soon-to-be husband. “I can’t believe my big brother is getting married,” she murmured to me. “Honestly, I didn’t think that he’d ever find a nice girl like you to marry.” There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke again. “The other girls were real messes.” She laughed.

Honestly, I had no idea how to respond for a moment. “All I want is for him to be happy,” I told her giving her a sidelong glance. “And I would love to be the one to make him happy.”

“Dai, you have no idea. We talk on the phone every other night and he is the happiest I have ever seen him." She paused as if deciding and then continued, "I know what happened…. And I can assure you he never wanted to hurt you.”

There was another moment of silence, this time longer. “I know.” I nodded, looking at her with a meaningfulness that I don't think anybody else would really get, a lot of mixed emotions gathered in my brown eyes, including sadness and happiness.

Now we were standing on the hardwood floors of the house and Ben had disappeared up the stairs with our bags. The living room was right of to the side of the foyer, all brown leather furniture and white, pristine walls and it was the only room I noticed that was actually carpeted. There was a rather large TV mounted onto the very right wall. The stairs were to the left of the living room and the kitchen and dining room were straight ahead and that was just from what I noticed once I walked through the door.

Ben’s shoes thumped against the stairs as he came down, which were also hardwood. “Everything’s up in my old room,” he beamed. “I’ve missed it here so much.”

Bex chuckled. “We’ve missed you here. How’s it been across the pond?”

“Quite well, actually. I met this one.” Ben took my hand in his and gingerly brought it to his mouth for a quick kiss. “Although she’s actually from here.”

Bex spun to face me. “You are?!”

I nodded, hesitantly. “Until I was seven. That’s when we moved to California.”

“You never told me that, Ben!” Bex said seeming genuinely surprised.

He shrugged and tugged on my hand until I was in his family’s living room and then the door came open again. It was a very tall, built man. His hair was of salt and pepper descent and his tanned face was a bit wrinkled from years in the sun. He gave his son an eye crinkling smile when he saw him standing in the living room beside me.

“Dad,” Ben smiled and they engulfed each other in a bear hug.

When they parted his eyes wandered to me. “And this lovely lady must be, Dai.” He opened his arms and hugged me, like I was already one of the family.

“That would be her.” Ben grinned beaming with pride. His mother joined us in the living room. “Dai, now that they’re both here these are my parents Deborah and Jeremy.” He clapped his hands on his father’s right shoulder and his mother’s left.

“Nice to meet you both,” I mumbled in a shy manner.

“You as well,” Jeremy said. “It’s nice to meet the girl that Ben is going to make his bride.”

“Well, why don’t I go get dinner started and then your father and I would like to… speak with all of you,” Deborah said abruptly, disappearing into the kitchen after a sweeping gaze of the room.

***

We sat gathered around a wooden table made longer by a leaf in the middle. Deborah placed a plate of steaks in the middle of the table and then around the plate she placed pots of sides. “Alright, help yourselves,” she told us.

“What was it that you needed to talk to us about, Mom?” Ben ask filling up his plate as well as mine.

Jeremy and Deborah exchanged a nervous glance. “Well, Ben… your father and I know that these few weeks are about your love for Dai and bringing you guys together. We promise that this won’t affect the way the wedding goes, but-”

“Mom, just get on with it,” Bex insisted, her brow furrowed in confusion.

She sighed. “Your father and I are getting a divorce.”